This bum roll pattern is suitable for the 18th century and early Victorian era (1830s and 1840s) particularly for working class wear. It creates a fashionable bell-shape, especially when you wear it with tucked and corded petticoats. Continue reading How To Sew A Bum Roll
Flat steel boning, spiral steel boning, German plastic boning (aka synthetic whalebone) – what is best for historical corsets?
Historically, corsets were stiffened with whalebone (baleen), whalebone substitutes – such as horn and featherbone – and later flat steel boning. Continue reading 10 Types Of Corset Boning For Historical Corsetry
Learn how to make a straw hat from scratch with straw or grass!
In the Victorian era, straw hats were made from scratch: Straw or grass was cut, bleached and then braided. By the way, straw braiding was called straw plaiting or straw platting in the Victorian era. These straw braids were then sewn together to make DIY straw hats. Continue reading How To Make A Straw Hat From Scratch
I like to reuse old clothes: One old piece of clothing less in the landfill and a new beautiful denim corset top instead! Double yay! 😀 For these modern 18th century-inspired recycled denim stays I used one of my old jeans. Denim is a strong twill-weave fabric suitable as corset fabric. Because it’s a two-layer corset, it’s already so stiff that I didn’t even had to add boning. Continue reading Modern 18th Century Recycled Denim Stays – History Bounding
These 18th century linen stays were an impromptu sewing project! After seeing modern versions of 18th century stays worn as top on instagram, and since I had linen fabric scraps in my stash, I spontaneously decided to make 18th century linen stays!
So on the same day I searched for antique 18th century stays for inspiration. And I made the pattern in the night! 😀 This is one of my quickest historical sewing projects so far: Usually the research takes much longer. But the 18th century isn’t my favorite historical era, so I don’t mind if these stays aren’t 100% historically accurate! 😉 Continue reading 18th Century Linen Stays
200+ DIY natural beauty products & hair care products – made and loved for centuries! It’s easy and fun to make your own DIY natural beauty products at home!
Victorian and Edwardian women wanted to look their best. But makeup and beauty products weren’t always readily available. So they made their own DIY natural beauty products at home.
Learn to make your own makeup, kohl, lip balm, blush, tooth paste, shampoo, hairspray and much more! It’s easier than you’d think to make your own DIY natural beauty products and it’s so much fun!
Continue reading 200+ Historical DIY Natural Beauty Products
My 18th century jacket is finally finished! Yay! I sewed the last two seams just some minutes before we took the photos! 😉 This type of 18th century jacket is called a bedgown, short gown, unlined caraco or manteau de lit. Short gowns were considered undress in the 18th century. Undress or informal wear – the everyday clothes of the 18th century – was worn around the house while doing the work. Continue reading 18th Century Short Gown
I made DIY stockings from old clothes again! Last year I turned old holey leggings into stockings, now I used an old shirt to make stockings. This knit fabric was less stretchy than the leggings, so the stockings are less tight fitting. And because there was less fabric, the stockings are shorter, ending just above the knee. But I like how my DIY knee high stockings turned out! 😀
Continue reading Shirt To Stockings Refashion
I wanted to sew woven fabric stockings for a long time, and now I’ve finally sewn a pair of medieval fabric stockings! I like how they turned out. And they’re more comfortable to wear than I thought! Continue reading Medieval Stockings
I tried out another one of the historical bread recipes which are made without commercial yeast. This time I made the ‘Turkish Pea Yeast’ of 1819. It’s a recipe for bread which is naturally leavened with pea starter. Even today, bread is naturally leavened with yeast-free chickpea starters: In Greece chickpea leavened bread is called eftazymo, in Cyprus arkatena and in Turkey it’s called nohutlu ekmek. And here are two more recipe for chickpea leavened bread: chickpea yeast bread and arkatenio or eftazymo recipe. Continue reading Chickpea Leavened Bread Without Commercial Yeast